Superman...OVERPOWERED?

[shazam_man]

hey forum goers, first thread, but uh ive been getting in alot of arguements lately about whether Superman is overpowered or not, i personally love him he is a big part of my childhood, so what hes almost invincible i mean thats his description and he HAS to be invincible to fight some of the baddies he fights. post your opinion and maybe some good debate info so i can convince these guys.

[George Taylor]

Superman isn't overpowered, considering that his rogues gallery includes alien conquerors, quasi-omnipotent imps, evil gods, tyrant suns, super criminal minds, a bald guy that back in the day could invent anything, an imperfect yet very powerful clone, an evil version of himself, powerful wizards. He has to be powerful because he's Superman, he's meant to do the impossible when the odds are impossible.

[manduck37]

No, Superman isn't overpowered. George hits it right on the head. Superman is meant to deal with threats that other heroes can't overcome. He battles universe shaking, cosmic threats. He's the guy who finds a way to do the impossible.

Besides, overpower compared to who? Is The Incredible Hulk overpowered? He starts off almost invincible and gets tougher and stronger as he gets angrier. Is Thor overpowered? He's the literal god of thunder. He battles other gods. He has a whole host of powers, including being one of the strongest and toughest heroes in the Marvel Universe. How about Wolverine? Any injury heals in seconds, no matter how bad. He has an unbreakable skeleton and claws that cut through anything. He has a whole laundry list of powers from heightened senses to a healing factor. He's unkillable. Yet no one complains. How about Green Lantern? He can create anything and could even transmute on material into another at one time. Or The Flash. Look at some of the feats Wally West pulled off. Let's look at Professor X, who could mind wipe the entire planet if he wanted to. Or Magneto, who could rip the planet apart by manipulating the magnetic fields. Does anyone complain about them. No. So to complain that Superman is overpowered is flat out ridiculous.

[jackdaw53]

No, Superman isn't overpowered. George hits it right on the head. Superman is meant to deal with threats that other heroes can't overcome. He battles universe shaking, cosmic threats. He's the guy who finds a way to do the impossible.

Besides, overpower compared to who? Is The Incredible Hulk overpowered? He starts off almost invincible and gets tougher and stronger as he gets angrier. Is Thor overpowered? He's the literal god of thunder. He battles other gods. He has a whole host of powers, including being one of the strongest and toughest heroes in the Marvel Universe. How about Wolverine? Any injury heals in seconds, no matter how bad. He has an unbreakable skeleton and claws that cut through anything. He has a whole laundry list of powers from heightened senses to a healing factor. He's unkillable. Yet no one complains. How about Green Lantern? He can create anything and could even transmute on material into another at one time. Or The Flash. Look at some of the feats Wally West pulled off. Let's look at Professor X, who could mind wipe the entire planet if he wanted to. Or Magneto, who could rip the planet apart by manipulating the magnetic fields. Does anyone complain about them. No. So to complain that Superman is overpowered is flat out ridiculous.

Absolutely right: anybody who complains that Superman is overpowered has to also believe that many other DC and Marvel characters are also over-powered.... at least if they want to base their complaint on logic.

So, I'll be first to say it.... many DC and Marvel characters are over-powered. Superman may be one of them. On other hand, it makes sense for all sorts of reasons that Superman should be in top echelon of "power stakes".

[dupersuper]

What they said.

[Aquacatlungfish]

It depends on the story. He should be overpowered in All-Star Superman as they're going for a Jesuslike character with a personality but he shouldn't be that powerful in Justice League or major events because that makes most other heroes look completely pointless and useless.

[shazam_man]

No, Superman isn't overpowered. George hits it right on the head. Superman is meant to deal with threats that other heroes can't overcome. He battles universe shaking, cosmic threats. He's the guy who finds a way to do the impossible.

Besides, overpower compared to who? Is The Incredible Hulk overpowered? He starts off almost invincible and gets tougher and stronger as he gets angrier. Is Thor overpowered? He's the literal god of thunder. He battles other gods. He has a whole host of powers, including being one of the strongest and toughest heroes in the Marvel Universe. How about Wolverine? Any injury heals in seconds, no matter how bad. He has an unbreakable skeleton and claws that cut through anything. He has a whole laundry list of powers from heightened senses to a healing factor. He's unkillable. Yet no one complains. How about Green Lantern? He can create anything and could even transmute on material into another at one time. Or The Flash. Look at some of the feats Wally West pulled off. Let's look at Professor X, who could mind wipe the entire planet if he wanted to. Or Magneto, who could rip the planet apart by manipulating the magnetic fields. Does anyone complain about them. No. So to complain that Superman is overpowered is flat out ridiculous.

haha these are literally the examples i gave my friend except flash, his only response was "they cant hold the entire planet though" and i told him hes meant to face thoughs foes others just cant match, sad part is he doesnt even read comics he just loves the movies and he reads the wikis which i wanted to chew him out over but fact is he still knew some of what he was talking about

[Flash Gordon]

No, he's SUPERman.

[Auguste Dupin]

haha these are literally the examples i gave my friend except flash, his only response was "they cant hold the entire planet though" and i told him hes meant to face thoughs foes others just cant match, sad part is he doesnt even read comics he just loves the movies and he reads the wikis which i wanted to chew him out over but fact is he still knew some of what he was talking about

Flash can (or at least should) kill any creature in the universe by vibrating through their brain while moving ten time the speed of light, excluding any possibility for the opponent ti react in time.
I dunno about you, but that seems about as overpowered than holding planets.

[manduck37]

haha these are literally the examples i gave my friend except flash, his only response was "they cant hold the entire planet though" and i told him hes meant to face thoughs foes others just cant match, sad part is he doesnt even read comics he just loves the movies and he reads the wikis which i wanted to chew him out over but fact is he still knew some of what he was talking about

Actually, most of the examples we've discussed could hold a planet. If Professor X can mind wipe or mind control everyone on earth, he can hold a planet. Hulk actually has destroyed entire planets. Just read World War Hulk. If Magneto can rip the world to pieces with the force of magnetism, he could easily make the world bow down to him and hold it. Thor could hold a planet with his suite of powers, like summoning storms and his vast physical powers. If Flash decided to go on a killing spree, he could wipe out continents in mere seconds. He could go back in time and just eliminate threats before they were threats. Flash could easily hold a plant. So your friend's argument doesn't hold up.

[ascended]

Superman is only overpowered if you want to read about Spider-Man.

[Billy Batson]

Nothing much to add here after the first few posts.

[wayfarejourneyman]

My issue with Supes has never been that he is OP, but that there are rarely things that match him. Also, I find it improbably that Kryptonians and Daxamites have not overrun the universe, given their natural abilities and tech levels.

I like conflict driven stories, and I've rarely read superman stories where big blue is actually challenged in a meaningful way. Now, I have not read much superman in the last five years, but I've picked up the events, and I've rarely encountered stories where superman is really threatened. Superboy Prime is one of those cases, but beyond that?

Also, what I've heard Post-Flashpoint, his powers and intellect seem to be at a level where he essentially is the entire justice league locked in one guy. With flash-level speed, planet juggling super-strength, invulnerability that doesnt seem to have much of a limit, and significant intelligence...it just seems like he should be a solo-act. Coming down to the level where he can interact with the league in a meaningful way sends mixed messages.

Then again, in the DCnU, he can run into Majestros and Apollo, so perhaps there will be metas who are finally his equal?

Edit: before it comes up, I know the Manhunter is theoretically his better, and the various superman derived guys are supposed to be equals, but I rarely have felt that they compare to big blue. Could just be me, though.

[Mr. Holmes]

Well he's up against the Devil now, a 5 dimensional, reality warping Devil. The new villain H'El seems to be pretty damn powerful.

But to address Kryptonians running the universe, it's already been explained that their Sun has kept it extremely difficult to escape their Sun's gravity.

[wayfarejourneyman]

As in it was so huge they cant escape its pull?

Sorry, I'm not read up on post flashpoint stuff.